Libby Ward

Nightmares are generally everyone is afraid of when they are in the moment. And some, are just too horrifying to talk about in person. However, Anna Schlatzein allows us to delve into her mind to discover what lives beneath the depths of her consciousness. ​

It’s no secret that our rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate.According to Mongabay, a website developed by Rhett Butler (A CEO of Mongabay) to help spread awareness about the rainforest destruction, since 1978, over 750,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana.This is extremely dangerous. Not only are endangered animal’s homes being eradicated, but the weather patterns around the globe are also changing. We, as a human species, have relied on trees and nature for buildings, food, and shelter. We have also abused this, and as a result, our rainforests are dying. Honestly, the least the human race could do is rebuild as we take. Such as replanting a tree when one is cut down to help rebuild the life we take, thus helping to conserve our rainforests. And yes, it'll take time, and will be a long process. However, at least the rainforests will be rebuilt instead of destroyed.Already, there are 805 extinct species today, and although there are many conservation projects in place, I believe there is much more that could be done to prevent any further extinction of species. Something we go over a lot is recycling; all of the enthusiasts and conservationists say we need to do it to save the planet. I agree with this, however, I see a bigger picture. We usually recycle the small things, such as water bottles, straws, and even toothbrushes. But why aren’t we looking at the bigger picture?What I mean by that is, look at all of the abandoned places in the world such as towns, malls, and homes. Although it would be disrespectful to demolish certain places, there is a lot that can either be reused or renewed, such as abandoned malls that no longer serve a purpose. Those could be apartments if they were renovated!All we need to do is look at the bigger picture.The problem of demolition in the rainforests isn't just affecting animals, it is affecting humans as well, and in more ways, than we would care to admit, simply because it might alter our lifestyle. For example, trees give off oxygen, which is obviously very important to human life seeing as we literally cannot live without it. The more trees cut down, the less oxygen that is produced. Plus, there are many indigenous tribes and cultures that are/will be wiped out because not only are their trees being cut down, but logging has encouraged poachers and illegal ranchers to settle there, forcing them out of the area. Why should we alter the needs of another culture just for our selfish benefit?And I will say, I understand why we cut trees. We use it to make paper, housing, building, etc. I just wish we would use it economically smarter so that we could avoid wiping out those cultures, plant life and animal life.And by cutting down so many trees and not replacing them, tons and tons of greenhouse gases are being emitted because they store those gases, however, when we cut down those trees, it releases those gases which are terrible for the environment. Along with that, trees help regulate the water cycle. With fewer of them, it will return later to haunt us as the soil will dry up, and plants simply won't be able to grow. Many of the crops we once relied on will simply perish with this new change if we don't do anything to stop it anytime soon. Overall, the destruction of trees will never end, they have too many useful resources to us. However, we need to be doing it in a more sustainable manner. Especially if we continue wanting to be able to use them at all. ​

Helix Senior Hannah Christman wants to do something out of the ordinary for most students--she wants to be a Neurologist. Not very many high school students say that. Usually, the stereotypical responses are ‘I want to be a Doctor, Firefighter, Cop, etc.’ however, this senior has bigger ideas for herself.

“Of course I support her, I think this career will suit her very well and she will fit in well,” said Lizzy Shaw, a good friend of Hannah Christman.

​The outstanding 4.0 student has a long history of being around the medical field, with her mother and grandmother being in the field themselves. As Christman describes it, she knew she wanted to be in the medical field for as long as she could remember.

She explains that the thought of being a Neurologist has not been a goal forever, and admittedly is a very recent thing that surfaced last year for her. After a personal experience with her father developing Multiple Sclerosis almost five years ago, things got a little more real.

With his illness comes lesions in the brain and spinal cord, which basically means that his white blood cells are eating themselves in spots. And coincidentally, he goes to a neurologist for treatment.

After developing the illness, some tasks became really hard for him, sometimes he has difficulty walking and other days he can barely move his legs when it gets hot; when his right foot becomes hard to move. And because of their family likes to keep things light, they admittedly make fun of the way he walks sometimes because it is crooked-- it is, however, all in good fun.

“If I can help people like my dad along the way, you know I wouldn’t mind doing that either,” said Christman.

But unfortunately, these types of illnesses are not that treatable.

Her father also can’t eat a lot of foods that they might have enjoyed before such as fast food, and red meat. As the Christman’s are a close-knit family, they don’t really eat those items anymore, due to the fact that they don’t see a reason to be eating those kinds of foods while he can’t.

“I mean, Dad’s one of the best case scenarios...and that's kind of amazing,” said Christman.

Despite the hard times with her family, they still seem to be doing well for themselves. And Christman has a great support system.

Shaw, a senior at Griswold High School, certainly supports the other teen.And although her friends and family—even teachers constantly praise Christman, she doesn’t always feel at her best.

Often times, the teen doubts her smarts, or if she will be able to complete her goals. “All my life people have told me, you’re smart you can do anything, but there are a lot of times where I don't feel like it,” said Christman.

But although she doesn’t feel like it, it’s very apparent what her friends think. Shaw definitely seems to think that Christman can pull it off.

Bohemian Rhapsody follows the tale of Freddie Mercury and his adventures into the band ‘Queen.’ The movie follows him as he struggles with personal identity, struggles with family life and the woes of band life. The film takes place between 1970 and 1985, the film’s genre was marked as a Drama. The film got a 61% on Rotten Tomatoes which means that the critics liked it, rather than rating it lower. Considering the percentages, the film did pretty well.The film stars some noticeable actors such as Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury), Ben Hardy (Roger Taylor) and Gwilym Lee (Brian May).Rami Malek, an actor who has been in many notable films such as: Night at the Museum, Mr. Robot, and Papillion has been getting many promising reviews over his acting performance. And I have to say, I agree with all of them. I had always been a fan of Malek and so seeing him be the lead role in this film, I knew he would be great. And it looks like the critics agree with me. The film has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.However, I have to say that the music was the best part. Again, I had always been a huge fan of the band ‘Queen’ and so to be able to hear more of their music in this film and see how it was made was incredible and an amazing experience.Despite the great soundtrack, starting the film, quite frankly, I was not impressed. Although I had heard many promising reviews I did not find myself to be enjoying it. The music had intrigued me, I had always been a fan of Freddie Mercury. However the beginning was just not enough to catch my attention. The beginning was a slow-mo effect with cheering crowds and a close up of the man himself--Freddie Mercury. However this managed to just mildly confuse me and left me waiting until there was some real action.When I got halfway through the film, though, my attention was piqued. The musical background frankly was the only thing that had been able to keep my attention during the first half. But as the plot went further and I saw the struggles Mercury went through, I became more impressed.The film however was still not able to capture my full attention. Upon hearing the promising reviews, I had been quite excited to see it, and it's not that it was a bad movie; quite the contrary. It was a good one. It simply didn’t cater to my tastes. For starters, there wasn’t enough going on for me, and I am generally drawn to the more action-packed films or the heart wrenching ones. While this movie did have some heart wrenching moments, there wasn’t enough to keep me emotionally invested.The acting was well done. I never felt as if there was a moment where I believed that it was simply just actors on a screen. The cast was also well executed I thought, the actors were well chosen and filled their parts well.I did enjoy how the film went through some of the darker themes that Freddie went through in his life, such as his self-identity and problems with his family. The ending, in my opinion was the best part about the film, and was the one that I thoroughly enjoyed the most. The emotional appeal and the feeling of accomplishment is one that will always stick with me. Overall, it was a good movie. And I enjoyed quite a few parts (especially the soundtrack) The quality was also well done, the cinematography, the hair and makeup and the overall camera shots were exquisite. Overall, I would say that someone who like to know musical history or is a huge fan of the band ‘Queen’ or really any other rock fan would enjoy the movie. And even though it's not my favorite movie of all time, I would give it 3 popcorn buckets out of 5

Music is important in expressing how a person feels and telling what words simply cannot say. It helps people to either convey their emotions or to let them all out. At least—that’s what Griswold High School Students say.Most, if not all Helix students who were recently surveyed said that music had helped them express what they were feeling at a time where they couldn’t express it in another way. As one of the students put it, “Some people can't verbally say what they want. So they will use music as a way to get that out. It's like in the Bumblebee movie; Bee loses his voice and uses music to communicate.”

However, some music is more popular than others. Almost 17% of students said that their favorite genre was Country. Another 8% of students said that their favorite music was Rap. Over a third, or 33% said that their favorite music was Rock & Roll. No students said that their favorite music was pop. Over 8% said that their favorite music was Hip Hop, while another 8% said that their favorite music was Classical. Despite the buzz it gets in the media, 0% said that their favorite music was K-Pop. And 25% said that they didn’t have a favorite genre and just listened to a variety of music.

It seems that Rock and Roll has managed to take over the hearts of the high school students, which is somewhat surprising, considering that most Rock and Roll is from older generations, compared to the music composed today.

On the topic of composing, one student says that composing songs really helps them in dealing with whatever problems they may have. They said, “Most of the compositions I write/perform are the ways I cope with everything in life that is going on around me.”

Yet, most students have never considered what they would do if they no longer had music. Most students speculated with wild answers such as, “I’d Explode”, “I would cry. Period,” and, the most dramatic, “(I would) die.” Seemingly, this is understandable, considering the student’s previous responses to how music helps them.

Only one student out of those surveyed seemed to have any logical idea as to what they would do without music, which would be to, “...watch more movies.”

Not all music genres are important to the students, however. Most, if not everyone surveyed had a huge say in what genre they hated the most. Half of the students said that they hated Country. Only 8% said that they hated Rap or Rock and Roll. None singled out Pop or Hip Hop and Blues. Just 8% said that they hated Classical or K-Pop. Over 16% said that they didn’t hate a specific genre.

Despite all of the hatred, they can all agree that music is extremely important in expressing themselves. One student says that, “We listen to different types of music depending on what we are doing and how we feel or want to feel.”

Another explained that, “It (music) can show emotions in which words can never even begin to describe! Where words fail, music speaks."

Another student said that, “(Music) makes you feel things without words! That’s wild! Not everything should have to be said, some things should be felt.”

All in all, music is extremely important to teenagers, and if it were to disappear, there may quite be an apocalypse of angry teens trying to find new ways to express themselves. So, the next time a song pops up, no matter the genre, someone will definitely be using it to express their feelings.

High school sports tend to be seen in a bigger light-- they are seen as tougher, and more competitive; while middle school sports tend to be seen as merely a ‘place to start.’ However, there are many different aspects between the two, and middle school sports aren't as easy as people think they are.

Middle school sports may be seen as quaint; arguably not many people care about them, they're not played at the same high level as high school sports. However, middle school sports are important in developing an athlete's skills.

Looking back, high school athletes may not think that the practices may not have been as hard as they thought they were, but the practices were still important and a challenge for those who are first starting to play competitive sports.

“Looking back not really (were practices difficult), but when I was that age and level, yes,” said Sam Kubishta, a freshman at Griswold High School.

Participating in a new sport can be a lot for a new athlete, especially if they hadn't participated in that specific sport before. But it serves its purpose: to hone the athlete's skills.

High school sports tend to be geared more towards winning their games while improving the athlete's skills. This becomes especially important in high school sports for athletes hoping to get a scholarship to the school they want to enroll in.

This prospect can perhaps make middle school athletes nervous; they hear that high school sports are harder and coaches expect more from every athlete.

Ainsley Curtiss a middle schooler at Helix School says, “I think it'll be harder, but not in the way I expect.”

And while middle school sports tend to be seen as a mere stepping stone towards bigger goals, it's still important.

Participating in middle school sports in important to a student who may not know if they like the sport, or even if they want to continue it in high school.

“It made me appreciate the sport more,” said Kubishta.

And while theoretically, the two are the same, they have many different aspects. There are differences in how middle school sports hone athlete’s skills and get them prepared for what it'll be like in high school, but young athletes also learn about the different ways of training for each sport.

For example, Kubishta remembers his time in cross country. In middle school, they would run to the Helix Market, while now running greater distances; for one practice, the team even ran the 10 miles to Athena.

"They're the same sports but they have different aspects,” said Kubishta.

And although high school sports may be harder, they tend to be very rewarding. The wins, the crowds, and the training get more and more vigorous. However, both Curtiss and Kubishta agree that it is worth it.

Both Curtiss and Kubishta wanted to continue competing after middle school was over. Curtiss has expressed that doing middle school sports have been fun, but she's ready to get out with the ‘big dogs.’

Curtiss says that she has been inspired by many of the high school girls, expressing that she wants to ‘be as good as them.’

And one thing is for sure, she is ready for next year.

“Yeah, I’m excited for next year,” said Curtiss.

And while the training was harder, and the freshman found himself working harder than he ever had before, he knew he still wanted to continue.

“I felt like if I left, it wouldn't be a good thing for me later on,” said Kubishta.

Helix High School students disagree on the question of whether American high schools should have a senior year.

Students say that cutting a senior year off will only induce more stress and make classes more compact.

“I think it’s really smart of them to separate it into different years of things that you are supposed to learn about,” said Lizzy Shaw, a senior at Griswold High School.

Lately, there has been some controversy in Helix, as well as world wide, over if schools should have a senior year, or drop it entirely, condensing the high school experience into just three years. One school district in Utah is thinking about making this decision, although its reasons for doing so are for budgetary reasons instead of academic ones.

At first glance, many students might be attracted to the idea of a condensed high school; considering that many teenagers complain about it. However many of Utah’s students have disagreed with the proposal. Many Helix students agree with them.

“High school is an important part of our lives and I think shortening it would take away from the high school experience,” says Sam Kubishta a Freshman at Griswold High School.

Similarly enough, Utah students have been saying the same argument. This would seem surprising to most, considering the backlash school usually gets from teenagers. “I know that there is some disdain from students, but I feel like it’s more targeted towards actually having to show up more than anything,” said Shaw.

It seems like the difference in grade levels doesn’t really matter towards the attitudes of high school students. Even after high school.

“I know that there are a lot of students who after graduating, stay home because they still don’t know what they want to do in life and I feel like that’s saying something,” said Shaw. It seems that high school students want/feel like they need that extra year in high school to succeed.

​Recently, “The Oregonian” published a new article discussing this topic. The article explains that Oregon’s students who take standardized tests show that their math scores are declining, and Language Arts scores are stagnant. And many of the state’s data is unreliable due to many students simply skipping the test.

As a result, the Oregon Board of Education voted to loosen requirements for seniors in high school, which would mean fewer classes.

“I think that once we have gotten used to the change in pace that we can manage and even succeed in a three year schooling program," said Kubishta.

The board authorized many exemptions that let districts offer seniors who are “on track” to graduate with fewer classes; however, their local school boards need to agree for these changes to take place at the local level.

This is quite a change from the prior three years when the board stood strong with parents who protested the “part time” education that Portland was giving its students.

Despite the Oregon Board of Education’s decision, no known decision has been released from the Helix School District. It seems as if, for now, the education will remain the same, and students will continue to go through the “normal” four years of high school--exactly what most students want.

“The Jumanji reboot “Welcome to the Jungle” is a happy surprise--a movie that turns out to be good (almost clean) fun, and is much more interested in character and comedy rather than special effects” (Philadelphia Daily News - Gary Thompson).

Jumanji is a remake of the classic older film of the original Jumanji released in 1995. Whilst the original film focused on two kids who stumbled upon a magical old board game and meeting an old man (Robin Williams) who had been trapped in the game, not to even mention all of the different creatures and events from the board game that start coming into the real world. The newer Jumanji tells a different tale.

​While the two are similar in events that happen and ‘lore,’ they both have their own unique humor and drama that make them enjoyable. Jumanji “Welcome to the Jungle” Is said to be a continuation of the older Jumanji, created 21 years later.

The story of the new Jumanji follows four teenagers from different backgrounds who all get detention one way or another. After school, their principle takes them to an area that they must clean up.Upon cleaning, they discover a video game where they choose characters from the game Jumanji. From there, they face countless dangers and get themselves into many humorous situations.The scenery of Jumanji was stunning, and for good reason. When they are taken into the video game, they are transported into a jungle. Upon further research, it turns out that it was filmed on location in Hawaii!A number of exterior scenes were filmed on the island of Oahu, and a large number of scenes were filmed at Kualoa Ranch.Overall, the film has good humor (If a bit raunchy at times), good actors, and beautiful scenes.Reviews for the movies were overall very good with the rotten tomato count being 76%,Many famous actors were included in the movie such as Kevin Hart, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Jack Black and even Karen Gillan.And yes—Dwayne Johnson managed to keep his shirt on most of the time.Otherwise, the film keeps true to its name, and manages to uphold its legacy from the first movie.However, there seems to be one complaint about the movie universally. In the first Jumanji, Robin Williams, otherwise known as Alan Parrish, was trapped in the board. Of course, being trapped in there led to him aging.However, in the new Jumanji movie, Nick Jonas, otherwise known as Alex, is stuck in the video game which takes him back to the original time period he lived in when he was sucked into the video game, which was in 1996, a year after Alan Parrish was sucked into the board game before him in the events of the original film. Many have complained that this is the one thing that the new Jumanji movie didn’t get right; however, what most realize is that it is a video game rather than a board game, so different rules apply.Otherwise, the film was very highly praised. After reviewing the movie, I would have to give it a huge thumbs up!​The actors, the scenery and jokes made the film worthwhile watching overall, and it was a very enjoyable experience.

Team Space. Kyleen Stahancyk 'rips apart' her opposing team, Team Space. Kyleen agrees that Earth needs a lot more attention than Space.

Setting aside funds for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is pointless when America could be using those funds for other things, such as paying down the national debt or simply improving the well-being of America.

For 2018, the budget for NASA will be $19.1 billion. This is a 0.8 percent decrease from the current funding levels, however; it is also a 4.4 percent increase over former President Obama’s 2017 budget request of 18.3 billion.

As citizens of planet Earth, most people find themselves thinking about the current state of the Earth and outer space at least once in their lifetime. Many different opinions have been formed about the exploration of the ocean vs. the exploration of space. Many argue that exploring the ocean could provide valuable resources for medicine or natural resources, or other argue that exploring space could give us a new frontier to colonize a new planet; however that is not the topic today.

As great and cool as it is to have discovered various planets and constellations throughout our solar system, Earth needs attention too.

Or to be even more specific--the people living on it.

Currently, America is in $20,493,324,536,905 worth of debt. That’s a lot, and something we possibly can’t pay off.

Paying even more attention to detail, that's $63,017 worth of debt per citizen. And currently, it is estimated that there are 327,063,124 citizens inside of the US.

Yes, we may discover planets that could be perfectly habitable for the human race and we could end up colonizing it, and yes--it may be better than Earth. However, that is a huge risk. The idea that humans could colonize another planet is no doubt an astonishing thought and would perhaps solve a million issues, but how are we supposed to start over when there's a lot of fixing to be down here on Earth?

The truth is, the human race is flawed, and we can't just expect to pack up and try and colonize a new planet everytime something goes wrong.

While exploring space sounds all fun and good, there are very real problems down here on Earth that need fixing. We can't even begin to think about colonizing another planet when we don’t put more time or effort into helping the one were in.

One issue that is very prominent is America’s school systems, and lack of quality schools. Or perhaps we can look at another important issue, like hunger.

Education is especially important to our economy; we want the students in school to grow up and become a working, healthy individual who can contribute to our economy. How are we going to do that if we don’t have enough funding for schools?

Or perhaps take the hunger issue, which is just as, or even more important, than the school issue. Many working class Americans have trouble feeding their families, and if the working class individuals are having problems with that, then there’s a lot of imagination that could be said to what's happening to those who have become subject to being homeless and citizens who aren’t able to work.

Even if our huge investment pays off and we discover a place to colonize,there’s always the chance that human civilization just can’t adapt to the new planets, or ‘living spaces’

Of course, an argument can be made about the school system and the food issue, which is something that can be agreed upon.School systems may never get better, they might only get worse, and as for the food issue, there may just not be enough natural resources to feed everyone. There is no guarantee that doing either will result in good things for the human race.

If we do change things, then maybe the school system will start getting worse or the food issue can never be solved, but it’s a better risk than trying to start over on an almost unreliable planet.

All in all, NASA’s budget would do more good if it was reduced and used towards the things going on here at Earth, such as the ever-growing issues that seem to keep popping up. These issues are very real and sort of terrifying.

But we need to take those first steps towards trying to make America a better place. Because no one else is going to do it for us.

Taking a break; No'alani Maluemaleumu talks about how she injured her knee. The Helix Junior injured her knee in the first place by making a quick stop in the basketball season this year.

A player being injured in any sport is not unheard of-- in fact in can be quite common.

Injuries in a sport can be a loose term, it can be defined as a couple of bruises, or quickly escalate to a knee or hamstring injury; and even though the pain from the injury itself can be painful, the mental process can be even harder to bear.

Helix Sophomore Kyleen Stahancyk has had to go through this process more than once. Stahancyk has injured her hamstring more than five times, sprained her ankle, hurt her shoulder and is dealing with a hamstring injury again currently.

Going through this process she says is more physically tolling than mentally, although she does agree that, “You have to be mentally strong to play sports.”

Stahancyk seems to be the only one on her basketball and volleyball teams that gets injured constantly. Her team members mainly get a couple of bruises, but she says that she seems to be the most accident prone, in her own words.

When Stahancyk first injured her hamstring last year in volleyball season, she could barely even walk. The sophomore had first injured it by making a dive towards the ball during a volleyball match last year; then the added effect of Stahancyk jumping to block the volleyball later in the same match hurt it even more. Her father, who is a big support in her life pushed her to try to exercise it some.

“My dad was a big help in my hamstring recovery,” she says.

The recovery process for athletes; young or old, can definitely be a hard one. Many girls on the basketball team have been injured, for instance. For most, it’s just a few bruises but more severe injuries can come later on.

To help prevent injuries, the girls often wear some type of brace, and most wear two ankle braces. Stahancyk says, “Most girls wear two ankle braces, but the thing is, the shock needs to go somewhere so it'll go to their knees.”

Research on a variety of athletes, both men and women, tend to show that women get more knee injuries than men; both Stahancyk and No’alani Malumaleumu a junior at Helix, agree with these findings.

Stahancyk has dealt with many injuries of her own, and has had her fair time of rehabilitation; however Malumaleumu is dealing with this now.

The threat of an injury that can take an athlete who is passionate about their sports is very real and scary to athletes. Malumaleumu and Stahancyk both felt that once they had been injured, that they wouldn’t be able to play again.

Mentally, for Malumaleumu, it’s difficult. “I’d say it’s more mentally tolling because you have to deal with the fact that you can't play sports,” she said about her situation.

Malumaleumu is currently dealing with a knee injury and has been wearing a brace for about three weeks now. There is a light to the end of this tunnel, however. “I have to wear it for about three more months, but I'm cleared to play basketball now,” said Malumaleumu

The mental process between how a rehabilitated and a healthy athlete who is currently going through an injury for the first time is very similar but also different.

Both athletes worry that their injury may stop them from playing sports, and not so similarly, they deal with the pain differently.

Hopefully in the future, these two athletes can continue doing what they love; which is to play sports. And as a bonus, keep from going into the hospital!

Catching those Z's. Helix High School Junior Lizzy Shaw takes a rest in between classes. Often times Shaw is exhausted in school--like most students.

More than 80% of American high school students are sleep deprived today, according to the Stanford Medicine News Center. Every day, the epidemic of students not getting enough sleep is growing.

Students all over the world are seemingly getting more homework, and with the coming of homework comes new distractions in the lives of teenagers.

Many teens these days would rather be watching T.V. shows or hanging out with friends, or even just going on social media rather than doing their homework or studying. However, social media and television shows are not the main thing that is keeping students up late at night, although it does play a big factor.

The other big factor is the amount of homework that students are getting every day. Many students are finding it hard to balance completing homework assignments and getting enough sleep. Try asking any student how they are, and chances are they are going to say, “Tired” or “Exhausted” and if you ask why, the answer is almost always, “Homework.”

Brittany Butler, a Math teacher at Griswold High School, agrees that it’s very hard to manage getting enough sleep and doing homework; however she does think that distractions are becoming more and more of a problem and a factor in sleep-deprived students today.

“Time management is what I really think would lessen those numbers,” is what she suggests about decreasing the numbers of sleep deprived students.

Experts recommend that students get 9 hours of sleep a night, but the reality is, many are only getting about five. In an even more worrying study conducted by the National Institute of Health in 2014, 20 percent of students are getting less than 5 hours of sleep per night.

Butler isn’t surprised. “I’m not surprised at all that the number has gotten that high,” she said.

Sleep deprivation not only takes a toll on a student’s physical health, but their mental state as well. “A study of nearly 28,000 suburban high school students, published earlier this year in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, found that each hour of lost sleep is associated with a 38 percent increased risk of feeling sad or hopeless and a 58 percent increase in suicide attempts,” according to Carolyn Gregoire, a Senior Health & Science Writer at The Huffington Post.

Lizzy Shaw, a junior at Griswold High School, seems to suffer from a lack of sleep greatly--especially considering her mental health. “I maybe get 6 hours of sleep every night, and it does take its toll,” she said.

Shaw often spends evenings catching up on homework from the night before.

She does agree that it is the student's’ responsibility to get their homework done, even if it means risking that extra sleep, but she also believes that teachers should consider decreasing the workload.

“It’s the student’s responsibility to get their homework done, but at the same time, it should be the teacher’s responsibility to not hand out so much homework,” Shaw said.

Often times, students end up stressed and have adverse health problems because of this dilemma—including Shaw.

“School is hard, I have panic attacks and just so much stress and the added effect of sleep (deprivation) doesn’t help,” she says.

The epidemic of students getting less and less sleep every day is staggering. There’s no doubt that the statistics of students who are sleep deprived is getting worse. Sleep is essential--especially for teenagers and an excessive lack of slumber can be fatal.

The homework can wait to be done, and when it's already 11 o’clock; put it down and get some rest instead. Your health will thank you.

Hard Work--Freshman Eli Sprenger displays the progress of the Sprenger House. The Sprengers have been working on the house for more than 350 hours!

How many high school students can say that they've had a hand in building a house? Nevertheless one they are going to live in?

Griswold Student Elijah Sprenger, a.k.a Eli (to most students and teachers) is currently a freshman who is building a house; here's the twist: this is a house his family and he plan to live in. The house is currently under construction near Athena.

Besides the other houses he's built with his father (who is a part-time contractor) in the past, this one is different in many more ways than one.

According to Sprenger, the property that they are currently building the house on had been wanted by his family for about 10 years! The owner of the property refused to sell it for a while, even backing out of the deal once when he had already agreed to sell. The family had been waiting years and years until he finally agreed after a long battle of persistence. “Once he finally agreed to sell it, my parents kind of jumped the gun,” Sprenger said about the property.

The young freshman student seems to think that the property owner was a little bit of a hoarder and wanted all of the house parts to himself. Once the Sprenger family finally had their grip on the property for real, they were already faced with a challenge. On the property was a very old house, and they were faced with two decisions: try and fix it up or tear it down. Unfortunately, the house had been too worn down to salvage anything.

“It was just so messed up that if we didn't tear it down, it would have collapsed in the next ten years,” said Eli. Eli hadn't been torn up over destroying the old house too much, but his family had been. The old structure had been an old stagecoach stop in the 1900’s. Eli said that many people would come over and show him pictures of what it used to look like.

While waiting for the house to be finished, the Sprengers reside in two different trailers. Eli, however, is living in a tent separately to get away from all of the family’s hustle and bustle, he is excited for the house to be finished but, “You get to see your progress as you move along, but then it kind of takes out the satisfaction of the new house feeling,” said Sprenger.

The house has taken a lot of work, but all of the Sprenger family has agreed that it’s been worth it. Even the oldest siblings who are no longer going to Helix High School have been pitching in.

Older brother and Helix alum, Jake Sprenger had to also agree that it is very hard work, “It’s rewarding but it’s definitely hard work,” said Jake. With the two of them paired together, they certainly have been the ones working on the house the most—besides their father of course.

The two boys claim that it’s been almost ‘tradition’ to build houses since they’ve done it ever since they could remember. In total, the Sprengers have built and sold about 6 houses. Jake Sprenger mainly does simple menial tasks. “Whatever my dad needs, mainly grunt work,” is how Jake describes his contributions.

Eli Sprenger seems to think that the work experience will be good for him in the future. “Everyone tells me that the house building experience is good, and I know it is, it's just hard,” said Eli.

Not many high school students globally have ever had a hand in building a house. Eli thinks that Helix High School students have many more opportunities to do so, however. “I think here in Helix most students have the opportunity to learn that stuff,” said Eli.

Overall, Eli Sprenger has accomplished some impressive feats, from building 6 houses in his lifetime to continuing to build that skill level;

The Sprenger family has accumulated more than 350 hours of construction time on their new house. In 5 weeks of his freshman year of high school, Eli hasn’t even attended that many hours of classes! One thing is for sure, they all can’t wait until its finally finished, especially Eli.

Politics is a subject that most would avoid unless, of course, they wanted to get into the controversy of who is the “best” candidate and who should have won the election, as well as what each candidate stands for. Also, if by some chance you didn’t know who won the presidential election, it was Donald Trump. Do most of the Griswold High School students agree with who won, or, even agree with each other?Throughout the whole debacle that came with last fall’s elections, there was much debate over the candidates. Moreover, if you want to be distinct, mainly the controversy between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the two candidates who ended up fighting against each other for the nation’s highest office. All the same, there were many candidates before the race was narrowed down besides Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton who also received votes. Most of these candidates did not make it through the whole election season. Seemingly, there were problems with all of the candidates, but none seemed to be more controversial than Clinton and Trump. Each side had their own public issues in the people’s view; it was interesting to see the Griswold High School students votes, and to see if they had agreed with any of the issues surrounding the new President and the close competitors next to him.A summary of the issues that many people thought Hillary had were: commanding little trust, the positions she “adopted,” and the representation that she would be the first female president. Even with these issues present, there still were quite a few votes for Hillary, so many, in fact, that she actually won the popular vote. Trump did not have it so easy either, and lots of controversy about him being the president started to rise from the very beginning of his campaign. The main issues the people had with Trump were: his new foreign policies, building a wall, and the belief that he doesn’t have much respect for the female population.Despite these concerns, the majority of people had voted for either Trump and Hillary in the end. Still, what about the Helix High School student’s opinion? About 56% of the students would have voted for Donald Trump, only 6% for Hillary Clinton, 6% would have selected Tim Kaine, 0% voted for Mike Pence, 0% voted for Gary Johnson, 0% voted for Bill Weld, 12% voted for Jill Stein and 0% voted for Ajamu Baraka.Probably the most telling statistic is that 25% said they didn’t care about voting for anyone or they didn’t want to even answer the question.As the survey shows, almost half of the students favored Donald Trump. These results were rather surprising, as many people find issues with the new President. Despite these issues, Helix students all seemed to agree that they wanted Donald Trump as their president.Then, there were the candidates who got a low amount of student votes such as Hillary Clinton, Jill Stein, and Tim Kaine. It was rather surprising to see that Helix students favored Jill Stein and Tim Kaine, rather than Hillary Clinton. It was especially surprising to see that more female students wanted Donald Trump to be president more than Hillary Clinton. Helix Donald Trump supporters who are female were a surprising 31%, while only 25% of males supported him.Now, about the percentage who didn’t care about the candidates or they didn’t like the question. Seeing as this percentage is gaining on Donald Trump, it is a little concerning. The results from those who answered like this were evenly distributed between females and males. This certainly merits some concerns for our future, considering that the classes will be graduating and deciding on their president.If Helix students didn’t care about the candidates, then what about the adults who can vote? Do they feel the same way? Thankfully, most of the Helix students did choose to vote for a candidate, hopefully securing our future. Despite all of the differences, thankfully 87% of Helix High School students agreed that whomever they voted for did not affect personal relationships between family and friends, while 12% said that it had. Because of all the debates and fighting in the last election, it was shocking that only 12% said that it had, because of the whole ordeal that the country witnessed. It was expected that more would say that their family/friends relationships had been affected, but delightfully they did not.And, finally for the other polled results, 43% said that their family/friends agreed with them on their chosen candidate. Another 43% said that they didn’t know/didn’t care whether their family agreed with them on their candidate vote, and finally, 12% said that their friends/family did not agree with their vote.So, maybe at the next election, really take a look at your candidates. It may affect your future more than you think.​

Many films from the “good o’l days” are considered classics. From Disney classics such as The Little Mermaid to Mary Poppins, there is a wide range for anyone looking for a good movie to watch. These classic films include none other than Annie!

Annie has gone through many changes over the years, going through multiple remakes of the film, including a white version of Annie and a even an African-American version. The story wasn’t originally a film, however.

The film can go back almost 300 years! At first, the orphaned little red-haired girl started out as a poem written by James Whitcomp Riley. The poem was titled, “Little Orphant Annie.”

The poem soon grew and eventually was adapted to be a newspaper comic strip also named “Little Orphan Annie.” It appeared in newspapers from 1924 to its closing date in 2010. While the cartoon ran in newspapers, it also became a 15-minute radio program in 1930 that ran for 12 years and had gained 6 million followers.

Then finally, two different movie versions of Annie came out. Sadly, both had a very bad reputation and were not well-received from the critics.

After the two films had been badly criticized, a Broadway musical was born. The Broadway musical had been a big hit and so a new film version of Annie was released in 1982. The stars of the film include: Albert Finney ( Mr.Warbucks), Carol Burnett ( Ms. Hannigan), Ann Reinking ( Grace Ferrell), Tim Curry ( Rooster Hannigan), and last but not least Aileen Quinn ( Annie).

The film (and the Broadway musical) follow the story of, you guessed it, Annie. Annie is an orphan who lives with her friends. The “Matron” is very cruel to these girls, however, and so this sparks a stage of rebelliousness in them.

While in the orphanage, the girls have to clean and work until one day a woman comes in stating that one of the richest men in the town is looking for an orphan to stay for a week. Eventually, she chooses Annie and there they go. The rest of the production follows Annie and her friend’s adventures, setting themes about family and love.

Fit with plenty of musical numbers, which a Broadway musical should have, the Broadway Musical had very heartwarming moments and tugs at the heartstrings, along with the actual film of Annie.

The choreograph for the film fits with the themes very well and still gives that feeling of happiness. It also gives the message of wherever you are, don’t give up hope! Because as the song goes, “The sun will come out tomorrow.”

Besides the positive songs, (especially the very popular ones such as “Tomorrow” and “It's the Hard Knock Life,”) this movie gives a very positive message about orphans. Mr. Warbucks, the man who adopts Annie, changes his heart from money, greed, and work, to love and compassion for Annie and simply adores her. The whole staff in the house seems to adore her, too. It would be hard not to with that red curly hair and her freckled smile.

The characters are simply to adore, too, from the orphans in the orphanage to Annie, and Mr. Warbucks. Even if you don’t like a certain character, they all seem to take on a change of heart, including Agatha Hannigan, who may dislike Annie, but eventually doesn’t let her brother touch a single hair on her head. Er well Ms.Hannigan tries. Talk about sibling love.

Well? What are you waiting for? Go out and watch Annie! I would give it a 4/5 stars for the wonderful messages, heartwarming songs, and wonderful characters who prove that you can always have a change of Heart. The film is a very heartwarming tale about one special little orphan by the name of Annie.

​Painting, sculpting, music. It’s all a part of a system. An Art system that is. There are many artists from all over the world who have made or still do make a good living creating art for the public. So why don’t we incorporate more art into school? Schools from all over the world should have more music classes widespread available for students.

It is admittedly true that few students would actually want to apply for a music class, or if forced to, would be very unhappy. However, the results of kids who do want to pursue music or do want to do music in school is innumerable

First there’s stress relief. Many students reportedly say that music seems to help calm them and lets out the stress of their other school work. Studies have concluded that when a child is exposed to music, their basic immune system improves and it helps relieve stress. Studies have also proven over the years that being exposed to music slows the pulse and heart rate, lowers blood pressure and lower stress levels significantly.

If music has been shown to help reduce stress levels, it could also help keep the child/teen who wants to pursue music at a steady level and to relieve stress off their body early on. For many, it could be a nice break, and even help with their schoolwork, which would be beneficial to the student later in life.

Music also helps you think. Many people often think that when someone plays music, that they're just making sounds and reading easy notes. It’s much more than that, however. Many more studies done on students often show time and time again that learning to play music gets the brain rolling , and causes the student to really think whether they like it or not. A reason for this that might be that playing music is s harder than it looks. No one can just start out knowing the notes and the correct way to play an instrument.

When students play music, they actually have to learn how to play an instrument and understand how it works, to make it sound good. And when students do start learning, it makes it easier, yet harder, because they are learning the new notes which will eventually lead them to be mentally stronger, in which, quite frankly, students need to be in order to be successful in school.

Speaking of mental strength, perhaps one of the biggest and most important points of having music available is it increases student’s test and assignment grades.

Studies from all over the world have concluded this, showing that kids who were exposed to music and actually playing it were doing much better in their work, and were doing much better in their test grades overall.

So, if music can help kids so much in school and just in their overall intelligence, why don’t we have it all over, or why does it keep getting cut out of school programs? In the end, music has been shown time and time again to be very useful for students.

Check with your school counselor to see if there are any music-related classes to get into. You never know. Maybe that grade in Math or History will improve because of it.

On The Ice. Taking a break from schoolwork Beth Steinmez enjoys watching a little girl figure skate to "I whip my hair back and forth". Beth often watches Figure Skating at home with nothing to do.

In the news media today, almost everyone knows about everything instantly. Take the Oscars incident, for example. By now, everyone, if not most everyone, knows about the mistake involving giving out the award for Best Picture. The point is the news media spits out, well--news almost instantaneously. The Oscar debacle seems to be the great ordeal everyone knows about today, especially among the youth. However, do Helix students know what was the great news that everyone knew about 25 years ago?

About 25 years ago, U.S. figure skater Tonya Harding was a name everyone knew. It was almost impossible to not know her name in the early 1990s. Her name had been in newspapers everywhere, whether it was for being the first U.S. woman ever to land two triple axel jumps perfectly in one competition, or the huge scandal that was later attached to her. Everyone had known her name, even if they weren't a fan of Women’s Figure Skating. The scandal had been an even bigger deal locally, because Harding had been the representative of the state of Oregon in the Olympics for figure skating.

The scandal Tonya Harding had been involved in was with her rival Nancy Kerrigan; Kerrigan’s knee had been bashed in by a mysterious person. It turned out that Harding’s husband had hired a man to do the job. Rumors and conspiracy theories went out everywhere about this incident, and soon, everyone knew about it. The true question was, did Tonya know about it?

Annie Wood a sophomore at Griswold High School seems to disagree with the theory that Harding was behind the attack. She states, “I don’t know, I don’t think she’s that horrible of a person.” Wood has been a fan of figure skating, and has definitely heard of Harding.

Seemingly, the youth of today don’t recognize Harding’s name anymore; even after the big scandal. There may be fans of figure skating at Helix High School, but none of them knew about Tonya Harding. Wood had just been a special case. After learning the information on Harding, all the youth seemed to be interested in the story, even if they had never heard of her.

Wood seemed to especially be interested in learning about Harding’s achievements; and especially the scandal. She seems to take Tonya’s side overall stating, “I like Tonya, and I’ve always thought Nancy was kind of snobbish.”

After searching through other details, it turned out that mostly only adults knew of Harding’s and Kerrigan's name. Griswold High Senior Macey Tullis, a fellow enthusiast of figure skating, hadn’t seemed to hear of her either.

Besides their differences in knowing about famous figure skaters, both students agree that the sport of figure skating is one of the hardest sports out there. The two students agreed that it takes a lot of physical strength to do well, due to having the ability to be able to jump and land perfectly. Tullis, along with Wood, would know because of their avid watching of Figure Skating.

Tullis said, “The ability you have to do to do it, I would probably break every bone in my body.” Both of the girls wish that the sport was more popular and talked about its appeal, due to its grace mixed with strength. Tullis has been interested in figure skating since a she was a child and has taken a look at their own town, only to find a lack of opportunity to participate in the sport locally.

Tullis wishes that there was more space for more figure skaters to practice on Pendleton’s small ice rink, saying, “I think it’s a really difficult sport, but not a lot of people watch it or talk about it; there’s not a space around here for anyone to do it.”

The girls seem to agree that figure skating needs to be more accessible and “mainstream.” Wood would like to see more of the sport, and said, “Figure skating is awesome and I wish it was more mainstream.”

On a final note, fans of figure skating definitely seem to want to see the sport be played more often. Perhaps think of that the next time you turn on the TV to watch some sports. Consider figure skating a graceful, but otherwise “dangerous” sport.​

Gilliland Twins. After his brother transfered schools, Reese Gilliland has been enjoying the space between them with a chance to work and learn about new interests. Reese holds a picture of his brother Heath Gilliland after he had transfered to Pendleton.

Because most people aren’t atwin, this group of people may be one of the largest groups who get bombarded with millions of questions, cliche or not.

Studies shown have concluded that the older a mother is, the more likely she is to have twins, different ethnicities have also been shown to have a higher percentage of twin births. For example,an African American woman is the most likely to have twins, while Asian women are the least likely. Twins are neither more or less likely to be male or female. Twins make up 90% of multiple births.

Besides the percentage of likely twin births, there are two types of twins: fraternal and identical. By definition, the meaning of fraternal is: (of twins) developed from separate ova and therefore genetically distinct and not necessarily of the same sex or more similar than other siblings. The definition of identical is: similar in every detail; exactly alike. It is more likely a woman will have fraternal twins rather than identical. Among the most common questions that twins most likely get asked the most would be, “Who’s older?” This would also be the one that gets annoying the most quickly.

Paige Gabriel, 17, a Senior at Griswold High School, seems to think that she could do without this question. It also doesn’t help that her twin brother Morrow Gabriel, also a Senior at Griswold High School, uses this as an excuse in arguments. Morrow is 5 minutes older than his sister.

Paige Gabriel seems to like being a twin, despite thinking of her brother as ‘annoying.’ This statement might be overlooked, however, seeing as she wants her brother to stay in her life because he is her driver.

Gabriel not only uses her brother as a driver, but as someone who could help her in her studies when she doesn’t understand something.

Despite all the jokes and comments to her brother, Gabriel wouldn’t want an older sibling or another younger one, and said, “I wouldn’t want to change it, I would want a younger sibling, but I wouldn’t want them dealing with being the youngest.”

At Griswold High School, Gabriel hasn’t noticed anyone treating her differently because she is a twin, which she is thankful for. Upon further questioning, Gabriel hadn’t really seemed to think about being treated differently; nor has thought about how she could be treated negatively.

Gabriel doesn’t seem to think it’s weird sharing the same school with her twin either, saying, “It’s not weird because it’s like sharing with an older or younger sibling.”

Despite the many popular myths, people may believe Gabriel says that she doesn’t normally partner up with her twin, unless forced. Another myth about twins that seems to be widespread is that twins skip a generation which has been proven to be false. If she could change one thing about being a twin, Paige would want to be the older one, thus she could use the excuse that she is older. Overall, Gabriel likes being a twin, and her favorite part is people's reactions when she tells them or when they figure it out, she says, “I like being a twin because when people find out, I love their reaction.”

Gabriel isn't the only Griswold High twin with a story to tell, however. Reese Gilliland, a senior, is a twin also. However, his twin transferred out of Helix and now goes to another school. “It’s not that much different. I mean, we were close, but it’s nice to kind of see that barrier of interests. Otherwise, I don’t see him as much,” said Gilliland.

Despite being close with his twin, Gilliland doesn’t seem to notice that it hasn’t been much different with his ‘other half’ gone.

Gilliland doesn’t seem to miss going to the same school either. “Again, it’s nice to see that space of interest apart, even though we were close,” he said.

From Mozart to Taylor Swift, musicians have been making their mark all over the world, including new Griswold High School Sophomore Hailey Shepherd. Hailey Shepherd, 15, plays the cello, piano, and is currently teaching herself to play the guitar. Hailey has been playing music for most of her life. She has been playing the cello for 6 years, the piano for 2 years, and she’s been teaching herself to play the piano for 8 months so far. Music has been this young girl's passion since she picked up her first instrument. She's gone as far as to play at school and in front of her whole church. Her friends admire her for sticking through the long hours of practice and for how talented she is, including fellow sophomore Tiawna Terkelson. Tiawana states, “Saying that she plays 3 instruments I mean...that takes talent!”The young student has a lot of free time, since she does not participate in any sports. In her free time, she either draws or, of course, practices. It seems like this may be more than just a hobby, considering she practices for 45 minutes a day.Hailey’s music passion started in fifth grade. One day, as a special surprise, her teacher, Mrs. McKenna, brought in a cello and played for the whole class. Hailey found herself entranced with the beautiful music and sounds that the instrument made, and decided in that moment that she would play it, too. After that first experience, Hailey took up private lessons, having her teacher occasionally help her after school when she had the time. And since then, she's never been able to stop playing music. Hailey states that her uncle also played a huge role in her musical experience. He has inspired her to play music, saying that, “My uncle played in a symphony and so I felt like I could someday play in one.” Shepherd could go on and on about how her uncle inspires her and is her idol. Her mother also had an important part with her learning and playing the piano. Hailey says that, “Piano wasn't my choice My mom signed my step dad, my brother, and I up for piano lessons and eventually I actually wanted to play.” The way her uncle inspired her happened when she decided one day to attend a symphony in which he was performing. She found herself amazed with how the music made her feel, thus giving her uncle the title of who inspires her the most. Hailey plays the guitar as well. Hailey says, “We had a guitar kind of in a corner untouched so I decided to pick it up and start playing.” Ever since then, she's been playing the guitar, saying that she's been noticing how other people play and wants to get that tune herself. Even her best friend Tiawna says, “She could definitely go far if she wanted to with her music career.”Hailey just hasn't been doing music for herself. She has become involved at the East Oregon Symphony. She volunteered there simply because she wanted to help aspiring musicians. In this role, Shepherd has helped kids practice, tuning their instruments, helping them with certain notes, and even playing some instruments herself a little. At the end of this experience, she was paid but she didn't care about the money, she was there for the music, which goes to show how dedicated she is. As an aspiring musician, Hailey has made a small name for herself among her peers and her family. After already learning the cello and the piano, she is also teaching herself the guitar. Many can say that she is a talented individual and many of her friends believe that she can become a professional musician. Her passion is music and she finds it fulfilling to play. ​

Elizabeth Ward

Hi, hello, hola; or whatever greeting you like to use! My legal name is Elizabeth, however everyone knows me as Libby. However, you can call me whatever you want. Generally I like to think that I’m a very creative person. I draw, sometimes I sing, and my favorite hobby is writing. Currently I have an anthology online of short stories I’ve written and posted online to a website called Quotev. The response I got was astounding, so I’m going to continue posting on there. I chose Publications for this reason, and I can confidently say that I’ve learned a lot.​